1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wrench, and more particularly to a wrench having a retractable handle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional wrench in accordance with the prior art includes a wrench body, and a shank extending from the wrench body for rotating the wrench body to operate a workpiece such as a nut, a bolt or the like. In general, the wrench often needs to exert a torque of different strengths for operating workpieces of different sizes. For example, the wrench usually needs a larger torque for operating a heavier workpiece, and needs a smaller torque for operating a lighter or smaller workpiece. However, the length of the shank is fixed so that the shank can only provide a torque with a fixed strength on the wrench body for operating the workpiece, thereby decreasing and limiting the versatility of the wrench.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional wrench.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a wrench having a retractable handle for arbitrarily adjusting the length of arm of force of the wrench so that the wrench includes an adjustable and variable arm of force so as to provide a torque of various strengths for operating workpieces which need torque of different strengths, thereby increasing the versatility of the wrench.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wrench comprising a wrench body, an elongated shank mounted on the wrench body, an elongated retractable handle telescopically and slidably mounted on the shank, and an adjusting device mounted between the shank and the retractable handle for adjustably securing the retractable handle on the shank.
The shank has an outer periphery defining a plurality of annular retaining grooves, and the adjusting device includes an adjusting ring slidably mounted on a first end of the retractable handle and having a first end defining a receiving recess in an inner wall thereof, and a plurality of locking balls each movably mounted in the first end of the retractable handle and each detachably secured in one of the retaining grooves of the shank, wherein, the adjusting ring is slidable on the first end of the retractable handle between a first position where each of the locking balls is pressed by an inner wall of the adjusting ring to be received in one of the retaining grooves of the shank for positioning the retractable handle on the shank, and a second position where each of the locking balls is introduced into the receiving recess of the adjusting ring to detach from the one retaining groove, thereby releasing and detaching the retractable handle from the shank such that the retractable handle is slidable on the shank.
The adjusting ring includes a second end defining a chamber provided with an annular abutting flange, and the adjusting device further includes a plurality of abutting beads each secured in an outer periphery of the first end of the retractable handle and each received in the chamber of the adjusting ring, and a biasing member mounted on the retractable handle, received in the chamber of the adjusting ring and pressed between the abutting flange and the abutting beads.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.